Changes

Kmowing the normalcy of polygamy through the ages gives us and advantage of how to understand the Bible and how to apply it.  

Kmowing the normalcy of polygamy through the ages gives us and advantage of how to understand the Bible and how to apply it.  

We can see that a bishop or overseer, in I Timothy 3:2, is to have only one wife, is, first of all, not speaking in referance to divorce and remarriage , but to the situation of polygamy. Then we can see, the wisdom of the rule of one wife for elders of the church - there is just too much to do and be responsible for in the work of the church that any more than one wife will deprive from the church and deprive from the family. Then we can see, that these are not iron clan rules, deviation from which is sin, but good and responsible quides that Paul is giving Timothy for the chosing of the leaders (and servants) of the Church. Then we can see, how it all fits in with the other guides - Don't chose a man that can't love and manage his own family, nor a man that has a bad reputation or drinks too much to lose sobriety, etc. And we can understand that all that needs to apply to our own situation in our century. And we can see that these were recommendations primarily to Timothy who had a task probably different from most of us, so we must truly learn the principles behind to make the wisdom of God's Word then applicable and real for our lives today. And we can see that the activity of the Holy Spirit did not end with the first century- and must not end for us in this century, by we must learn, and be enabled by Him to now apply what He has already told us in the Holy Scriptures for our present generation with its particulur problems.   

We can see that a bishop or overseer, in I Timothy 3:2, is to have only one wife, is, first of all, not speaking in reference to divorce and remarriage, but to the situation of polygamy. Then we can see, the wisdom of the rule of one wife for elders of the church - there is just too much to do and be responsible for in the work of the church that any more than one wife will deprive from the church and deprive from the family. Then we can see, that these are not iron clan rules, deviation from which is sin, but good and responsible quides that Paul is giving Timothy for the chosing of the leaders (and servants) of the Church. Then we can see, how it all fits in with the other guides - Don't chose a man that can't love and manage his own family, nor a man that has a bad reputation or drinks too much to lose sobriety, etc. And we can understand that all that needs to apply to our own situation in our century. And we can see that these were recommendations primarily to Timothy who had a task probably different from most of us, so we must truly learn the principles behind to make the wisdom of God's Word then applicable and real for our lives today. And we can see that the activity of the Holy Spirit did not end with the first century- and must not end for us in this century, by we must learn, and be enabled by Him to now apply what He has already told us in the Holy Scriptures for our present generation with its particulur problems.   

===Example 2. Telling without saying===

===Example 2. Telling without saying===

Sod = the secret and hidden, sometimes esoteric meaning of the text.   

Sod = the secret and hidden, sometimes esoteric meaning of the text.   

Together the first letters (consonents) of these words spell PaRDeS = Paradise. The second word, Remez, means hint or indication, and that is "telling without saying". This method is used in the writing of the account of the Gospel of Matthew of the giving of the "Sermon on the Mount"  beginning with the Beatitudes "Blessed are..." This is rightly seen, in this most Jewish of Gospels,  as the new Law , or, better, Teaching (Torah) of the Kingdom of Heaven  paralleling and then exceeding the Old Law of Mount Sinai.  

Together the first letters (consonants) of these words spell PaRDeS = Paradise. The second word, Remez, means hint or indication, and that is "telling without saying". This method is used in the writing of the account of the Gospel of Matthew of the giving of the "Sermon on the Mount"  beginning with the Beatitudes "Blessed are..." This is rightly seen, in this most Jewish of Gospels,  as the new Law, or, better, Teaching (Torah) of the Kingdom of Heaven  paralleling and then exceeding the Old Law of Mount Sinai.  

In the account of Luke, it is the Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew, it is the Sermon on the Mount. Both are historically correct as the location on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee is a high hill fanning out to a plain and meeting the sea. Why does Matthew prefer to use a Mountain? Because this will recall to listeners and readers of the Gospel that other mount,  Mount Sinai, which Moses had ascended to receive the now "Old Law".  

In the account of Luke, it is the Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew, it is the Sermon on the Mount. Both are historically correct as the location on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee is a high hill fanning out to a plain and meeting the sea. Why does Matthew prefer to use a Mountain? Because this will recall to listeners and readers of the Gospel that other mount,  Mount Sinai, which Moses had ascended to receive the now "Old Law".  

Many view the two accounts of the miraclulous feeding of the multitudes a literary fiction or at best a one time event told twice - with added color. Focusing on the literary and artistic creation of the form of the story, then, produces in us an unspoken and perhaps unrealized assuption that it never really happened, that it is a devise to make a point or teach a lesson, that it is not what it purports to be. But from down low and feeling the texture, we can see that these are differing stories, told for different reasons, and hence, without understanding fully, we are found with conviction as to their having actually taken place.  

Many view the two accounts of the miraclulous feeding of the multitudes a literary fiction or at best a one time event told twice - with added color. Focusing on the literary and artistic creation of the form of the story, then, produces in us an unspoken and perhaps unrealized assuption that it never really happened, that it is a devise to make a point or teach a lesson, that it is not what it purports to be. But from down low and feeling the texture, we can see that these are differing stories, told for different reasons, and hence, without understanding fully, we are found with conviction as to their having actually taken place.  

The first feeding was in the  Jewish area of the north west shore of the sea of Galilee. He had come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and had sent out his followers to preach and practice the kingdom among the Jews, and not the Samaritans or the Gentiles. And it was in this area that he had the multitudes sit down on the green grass in groups of fifty and a hundred as Israel long ago had grouped in the desert. He had chosen His twelve to " sit on the thrones":of Israel, not abolishing Israel, but fulfilling Israel in the new nation and people he was forming. It was green grass at that time of year because of the season and because it was at the Jewish end of the north shore fed by the seven springs ("heptapeigon" in Greek) which would become linguistically corrupted to its present name of Tabgha. There these seven springs gushing forth from warm water underground sources brought a steady flow of warm currents into the Sea attracting the many fish, most notably, the fresh water Tilapia, "Musht" in Arabic, "Amnon" in Hebrew, and "St. Peter's" fish to the Christian tourist. Such was the case up until this warm flow was stopped up by the 1950's water diversion project of the State of Israel diverting the flow to the National Water Carrier taking irrigation to the Negev, causing "the flowers to bloom" . And there in the back of the present day Church of the Primacy at the lip of the Sea, and indeed the base of the church itself, can be seen the 1st century steps leading down to  the little harbor where the fishermen disciples of Jesus, along with so many others in the 1st century, had tied up their boats and rigged and repaired their nets. In this area, up the hill a bit, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, gave the blessing,  and fed them all, through the hands of the disciples, filling thousands of their stomachs to the amazement of the disciples who saw it all happen before their eyes and from their own hands. And so the Messianic Kingdom was dawning then and there before their eyes. And in that spot, the Byzantines would build a church whose floor now appears as part of the floor of the present "reconstitued" Roman Catholic Church of the Multiplication, and there under the altar of both churches is the Byzantine Mosaic of the Feeding but with four loaves and two fish and not five loaves and two fish as so clearly presented in the Gospel of Mark. But the sensitivity of the Byzantines was accurate and thought out for they saw that the fifth loaf was Jesus Himself and His presence among them at the Eucharist. Of special note in the Gospel and for the early church (whose deacons distributed the blessed bread to the people of the Lord unable to attend the assembly) is that it was 12 baskets that remained over and distributed - a basket each for the reconstitued Israel descended from the 12 Fathers the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All so Jewish, in the Jewish Tetrarchy of Herod Antipas.   

The first feeding was in the  Jewish area of the north west shore of the sea of Galilee. He had come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and had sent out his followers to preach and practice the kingdom among the Jews, and not the Samaritans or the Gentiles. And it was in this area that he had the multitudes sit down on the green grass in groups of fifty and a hundred as Israel long ago had grouped in the desert. He had chosen His twelve to " sit on the thrones":of Israel, not abolishing Israel, but fulfilling Israel in the new nation and people he was forming. It was green grass at that time of year because of the season and because it was at the Jewish end of the north shore fed by the seven springs ("heptapeigon" in Greek) which would become linguistically corrupted to its present name of Tabgha. There these seven springs gushing forth from warm water underground sources brought a steady flow of warm currents into the Sea attracting the many fish, most notably, the fresh water Tilapia, "Musht" in Arabic, "Amnon" in Hebrew, and "St. Peter's" fish to the Christian tourist. Such was the case up until this warm flow was stopped up by the 1950s water diversion project of the State of Israel diverting the flow to the National Water Carrier taking irrigation to the Negev, causing "the flowers to bloom" . And there in the back of the present day Church of the Primacy at the lip of the Sea, and indeed the base of the church itself, can be seen the 1st century steps leading down to  the little harbor where the fishermen disciples of Jesus, along with so many others in the 1st century, had tied up their boats and rigged and repaired their nets. In this area, up the hill a bit, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, gave the blessing,  and fed them all, through the hands of the disciples, filling thousands of their stomachs to the amazement of the disciples who saw it all happen before their eyes and from their own hands. And so the Messianic Kingdom was dawning then and there before their eyes. And in that spot, the Byzantines would build a church whose floor now appears as part of the floor of the present "reconstitued" Roman Catholic Church of the Multiplication, and there under the altar of both churches is the Byzantine Mosaic of the Feeding but with four loaves and two fish and not five loaves and two fish as so clearly presented in the Gospel of Mark. But the sensitivity of the Byzantines was accurate and thought out for they saw that the fifth loaf was Jesus Himself and His presence among them at the Eucharist. Of special note in the Gospel and for the early church (whose deacons distributed the blessed bread to the people of the Lord unable to attend the assembly) is that it was 12 baskets that remained over and distributed - a basket each for the reconstituted Israel descended from the 12 Fathers the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All so Jewish, in the Jewish Tetrarchy of Herod Antipas.   

But quite different, the second feeding, then after a "foray" of Jesus passing out of the Tetrachy of Herod Antipas, and  Through the Valley of the Doves, the way that led to Gush Halav, where the Apostle Paul's parents had been born and lived and from which (Jerome) had been exiled to Tarsus in Cilicia, and coming into the non Jewish Phoenicia, and seeing such faith as never had been in Israel, and knowing what the promise of the Father had been that all the peoples of the world would be blessed in the choosing and the seed of Abraham, and knowing that that is also why he was called and where it would all lead, Jesus returned and passed into the Gentile area of the Tetrachy of Herod Antipas' brother Philip and to the Roman Decapolis, to the eastern gentile shore of the Sea of Galilee, and there, this time not on the green grass but on the barren hill,  He did the same, He blessed the bread and this time there were many small fish, the Galilee "sardines", and fed the gentiles just as He had the Jews, miraculously, and to their stomachs full, and this time there were Seven baskets left over. For seven was  known to be the number, not only of completion, and perfection, and fulfilling of the epoch, but also it was the number signifying "all the peoples of the world."  For it was seven nations that Israel had dispossed coming into the Land (Deut. 7:1) - the Hittites, Girgashιtes (these were still living in the Decapolis in the first century), the Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And it was, according to first century thinking as well as Biblical formulation, 7x10 = 70 peoples which constituted the whole of the peoples of the world around Israel (Gen. 10). And so the Kingdom of Heaven would now be open to all the peoples of the world, and "unto the ends of the earth."

But quite different, the second feeding, then after a "foray" of Jesus passing out of the Tetrachy of Herod Antipas, and  Through the Valley of the Doves, the way that led to Gush Halav, where the Apostle Paul's parents had been born and lived and from which (Jerome) had been exiled to Tarsus in Cilicia, and coming into the non Jewish Phoenicia, and seeing such faith as never had been in Israel, and knowing what the promise of the Father had been that all the peoples of the world would be blessed in the choosing and the seed of Abraham, and knowing that that is also why he was called and where it would all lead, Jesus returned and passed into the Gentile area of the Tetrachy of Herod Antipas' brother Philip and to the Roman Decapolis, to the eastern gentile shore of the Sea of Galilee, and there, this time not on the green grass but on the barren hill,  He did the same, He blessed the bread and this time there were many small fish, the Galilee "sardines", and fed the gentiles just as He had the Jews, miraculously, and to their stomachs full, and this time there were Seven baskets left over. For seven was  known to be the number, not only of completion, and perfection, and fulfilling of the epoch, but also it was the number signifying "all the peoples of the world."  For it was seven nations that Israel had dispossed coming into the Land (Deut. 7:1) - the Hittites, Girgashιtes (these were still living in the Decapolis in the first century), the Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And it was, according to first century thinking as well as Biblical formulation, 7x10 = 70 peoples which constituted the whole of the peoples of the world around Israel (Gen. 10). And so the Kingdom of Heaven would now be open to all the peoples of the world, and "unto the ends of the earth."

   

   

From close to the ground - two stories, two Feedings, two messages (with one Church to embrace them both), and two real occurances. .  

From close to the ground - two stories, two Feedings, two messages (with one Church to embrace them both), and two real occurrences. .  

===Example 4. What is real is real in many ways===

===Example 4. What is real is real in many ways===

What is real is real in many ways and the smallest of matters are great with portent.  

What is real is real in many ways and the smallest of matters are great with portent.  

Jesus said : Don't think that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill. I tell you with the fullest force that until heaven and earth pass away not one yod (jot) or a letter's ornament (tittle) shall pass away from the Torah (law) until every thing shall come to be. Therefore whoever shall loosen one of the most minor of these commandments and teaches others will be be called "minor" in the Kingdom of Heaven.And whoever does and teaches others to do, this one will be called "great" ("rav") in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt. 5:17-20.

Jesus said : Don't think that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill. I tell you with the fullest force that until heaven and earth pass away not one yod (jot) or a letter's ornament (tittle) shall pass away from the Torah (law) until every thing shall come to be. Therefore, whoever shall loosen one of the most minor of these commandments and teaches others will be called "minor" in the Kingdom of Heaven.And whoever does and teaches others to do, this one will be called "great" ("rav") in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt. 5:17-20.

The "yod" is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the tittle or decorative flip of the scribe's pen made in the writing of the letter (or, according to the script, radiating lines) is likewise small in size. But also known and internalized in the Jewish perspective, this letter and this decoration are opposites as well as similar in size. In Aramaic and Hebrew, the yod, despite its size, is pregnant with meanings. Inserted it can change "luck' or a particlular god (gad) into a goat (gedi) or ligament (gid). Suffixed it can turn God into "my God  (Eli). With verbs, it can turn active to passive as in "written" (ktiv). It can change  "you have come" to "I have come",  and "come!" to a woman, It can serve as a consonent as in the English word  "You" or as a vowel as in the word "healthy", and many, many other meanings does a Yod supply.Unlike the yod, the tittle has only one meaning, if it can be called a meaning. It adds beauty. That is all. But beauty has with it, integrally, the sense of fittingness, wholeness, holiness, and warming of the heart. All of these, are part of the text and within the text, inseparable from the text.

The "yod" is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the tittle or decorative flip of the scribe's pen made in the writing of the letter (or, according to the script, radiating lines) is likewise small in size. But also known and internalized in the Jewish perspective, this letter and this decoration are opposites as well as similar in size. In Aramaic and Hebrew, the yod, despite its size, is pregnant with meanings. Inserted it can change "luck' or a particlular god (gad) into a goat (gedi) or ligament (gid). Suffixed it can turn God into "my God  (Eli). With verbs, it can turn active to passive as in "written" (ktiv). It can change  "you have come" to "I have come",  and "come!" to a woman, It can serve as a consonant as in the English word  "You" or as a vowel as in the word "healthy", and many, many other meanings does a Yod supply.Unlike the yod, the tittle has only one meaning, if it can be called a meaning. It adds beauty. That is all. But beauty has with it, integrally, the sense of fittingness, wholeness, holiness, and warming of the heart. All of these, are part of the text and within the text, inseparable from the text.

The text is the Torah, usually translated as the "Law" - as in "the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings" (the Old Testament). But Judaism knows of a more precise term for "Law". It is Halakha, from the root for "walking". This is the term for legal prescriptions. This is in disctinction from Aggada - telling or recitings, and which takes in stories, parables, narratives, anecdotes. The Torah, the 5 books of Moses, is Aggadic as well as Halakhic. Therefore "law" doesn't do it justice (or rather, our sense of "law" is inadequate). Illuminating Instruction is better ("Torah" is from the root "to instruct")

The text is the Torah, usually translated as the "Law" - as in "the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings" (the Old Testament). But Judaism knows of a more precise term for "Law". It is Halakha, from the root for "walking". This is the term for legal prescriptions. This is in distinction from Aggada - telling or recitings, and which takes in stories, parables, narratives, anecdotes. The Torah, the 5 books of Moses, is Aggadic as well as Halakhic. Therefore, "law" doesn't do it justice (or rather, our sense of "law" is inadequate). Illuminating Instruction is better ("Torah" is from the root "to instruct")

Jesus said something strange, something unthinkable for any Rabbi, Teacher, or notable to say.; These could say,"I have come to obey, or practice and teach, to maintain and uphold the Torah". but Jesus said, " I have come to fulfill the Torah."  That has a double connotation. Jesus Himself fills up the whole variegatated content, impulsesof meanings, and beauties of the Torah, and Jesus Himself in some sense brings a closure to the Torah, a pivotal transition to something new - And this he does in the sermon, not on Mount Sinai, but the Mount of Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee. Thus the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31 forecasts the New Covenant of the Lords Supper and of Calvary, but receives its concretization and "authorization" from the very words of Jesus Himself - " I have come to fulfill".  Jesus, the Fulfillment of Torah, then becomes for His followers the new and true principle of interpretation by which, in their obedience, their love, their prayer, they either enact the Truer and Deeper Torah, and so become "great", or in their failures to obey,  become "minor" in the Kingdom of Heaven"

Jesus said something strange, something unthinkable for any Rabbi, Teacher, or notable to say.; These could say,"I have come to obey, or practice and teach, to maintain and uphold the Torah". but Jesus said, " I have come to fulfill the Torah."  That has a double connotation. Jesus Himself fills up the whole variegatated content, impulsesof meanings, and beauties of the Torah, and Jesus Himself in some sense brings a closure to the Torah, a pivotal transition to something new - And this he does in the sermon, not on Mount Sinai, but the Mount of Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee. Thus the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31 forecasts the New Covenant of the Lords Supper and of Calvary, but receives its concretization and "authorization" from the very words of Jesus Himself - " I have come to fulfill".  Jesus, the Fulfillment of Torah, then becomes for His followers the new and true principle of interpretation by which, in their obedience, their love, their prayer, they either enact the Truer and Deeper Torah, and so become "great", or in their failures to obey,  become "minor" in the Kingdom of Heaven"

If understanding of transition "from" and transition "to" is true, it ought to be be shown in other ways and places in the New Testament as the New Testament is no mere theological textbook but a book of real life. And that it does.  

If understanding of transition "from" and transition "to" is true, it ought to be shown in other ways and places in the New Testament as the New Testament is no mere theological textbook but a book of real life. And that it does.  

"By calling this Covenant 'new' [Jeremiah 31], He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear".  Hebrews 8:13, See Acts Chapter 15 for the transition in life of the Church from exclusively Jewish to predominently Gentile and the transition away from the Law of Moses.  

"By calling this Covenant 'new' [Jeremiah 31], He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear".  Hebrews 8:13, See Acts Chapter 15 for the transition in life of the Church from exclusively Jewish to predominantly Gentile and the transition away from the Law of Moses.  

The inclusion of these words of Jesus concerning His fulfilling of the Law, are from the times of Jesus on earth and no invention of the later Gentile dominated church. At the later time, there would have been no need for these Jewish oriented and Jewish pervaded discussion concerning the Mosaic Law. The Church was dynamic and in transition and full of real life.

The inclusion of these words of Jesus concerning His fulfilling of the Law, are from the times of Jesus on earth and no invention of the later Gentile dominated church. At the later time, there would have been no need for these Jewish oriented and Jewish pervaded discussion concerning the Mosaic Law. The Church was dynamic and in transition and full of real life.

When the words of Jesus are read or heard, the understanding that occurs is often the opposite of what is intended. Often the understanding is that the Church will be preserved from succumbing under the battering of Hell. But the opposite is true . The Church is the one on the offensive, rather than the one being on  the defensive, and it is Hell that is the one being battered and breached. The gates, what are they? Informing the "gates" of this passage is not what is understoood by gates today. Today it conjures up the picture of wooden or metal rather flattened barrier standing in the way of the entrance,  and on hinges, closing the entrance off, and secured by some type of bar or  lock. Ancient Israel did know this type of gate, but that was only the outer part of a complex defensive fortification, the key to the defense of the  whole city.  

When the words of Jesus are read or heard, the understanding that occurs is often the opposite of what is intended. Often the understanding is that the Church will be preserved from succumbing under the battering of Hell. But the opposite is true . The Church is the one on the offensive, rather than the one being on  the defensive, and it is Hell that is the one being battered and breached. The gates, what are they? Informing the "gates" of this passage is not what is understoood by gates today. Today it conjures up the picture of wooden or metal rather flattened barrier standing in the way of the entrance,  and on hinges, closing the entrance off, and secured by some type of bar or  lock. Ancient Israel did know this type of gate, but that was only the outer part of a complex defensive fortification, the key to the defense of the  whole city.  

Tel Dan in the north of Israel provides a good example. An enemy desiring to gain entrance to the city, must ride or go on foot along the bottom of the high outer walls exposed to view  and weapons of the defenders on the ramparts. He then must turn left to approach the outer gate. The holes may still be found sunk into stone within which were the posts of the outer gates which swung open and shut. Around this gate area is stony but leveled ground upon which the defending force could be amassed. Then the intruder host must again turn left to force entry into what can only be called the "gateway"., a more accurate translation than "gate". The turn is a calculated  defensive stratagem as it breaks a charge, causing horse and man to be slowed at a crucial point and to be exposed sideways. Surviving intruders than find themself in an wide area, which in peaceful times is the location for the King and his elders and for the rendering of judgrment "at the gates". At Tel Dan the King's  huge judgement seat has been reconstructed over the widely spaced original holes in the stone and to the side is the ledge serving as the seat of the elders. But in war time, the area is full of warriors. Then the stone road leads out of this area and up* narrowing, again important as it allows entrance to only two at a time or at the most three, but almost immediately, the intruder is confronted with the pilasters. These were protusions from the side of the walls lining the road into the city, usuallyin pairs or triplets on either side of the road , which  make for rooms for soldiers or guards. In Caananite times they were shallow rooms, in Israelite times deeper. Intruders would be attacked from either side of the road from these rooms, successively as they made their way up. They were also and at the same time attacked all along the way from up above  them as the the road was below ground level and shadowed by embankments all along the way. The way now was slow blocked by dead and dying man and horse. Then the road turned again, this time to the right, slowing and exhaustng and exposing the attacker, and only then could the the intruder be said to be in the city - only to be met by more defenders. This then was the the gateway.

Tel Dan in the north of Israel provides a good example. An enemy desiring to gain entrance to the city, must ride or go on foot along the bottom of the high outer walls exposed to view  and weapons of the defenders on the ramparts. He then must turn left to approach the outer gate. The holes may still be found sunk into stone within which were the posts of the outer gates which swung open and shut. Around this gate area is stony but leveled ground upon which the defending force could be amassed. Then the intruder host must again turn left to force entry into what can only be called the "gateway"., a more accurate translation than "gate". The turn is a calculated  defensive stratagem as it breaks a charge, causing horse and man to be slowed at a crucial point and to be exposed sideways. Surviving intruders than find themself in an wide area, which in peaceful times is the location for the King and his elders and for the rendering of judgrment "at the gates". At Tel Dan the King's  huge judgement seat has been reconstructed over the widely spaced original holes in the stone and to the side is the ledge serving as the seat of the elders. But in war time, the area is full of warriors. Then the stone road leads out of this area and up* narrowing, again important as it allows entrance to only two at a time or at the most three, but almost immediately, the intruder is confronted with the pilasters. These were protusions from the side of the walls lining the road into the city, usuallyin pairs or triplets on either side of the road, which  make for rooms for soldiers or guards. In Caananite times they were shallow rooms, in Israelite times deeper. Intruders would be attacked from either side of the road from these rooms, successively as they made their way up. They were also and at the same time attacked all along the way from up above  them as the road was below ground level and shadowed by embankments all along the way. The way now was slow blocked by dead and dying man and horse. Then the road turned again, this time to the right, slowing and exhaustng and exposing the attacker, and only then could the intruder be said to be in the city - only to be met by more defenders. This then was the gateway.

This picture of the Gateway did not directly influence the  wording of the saying of Jesus above, but it did directly influence the words of the Old Testament Scripture and these , in turn, did directly affect the wordings used by Jesus.  

This picture of the Gateway did not directly influence the  wording of the saying of Jesus above, but it did directly influence the words of the Old Testament Scripture and these, in turn, did directly affect the wordings used by Jesus.  

====The Scriptures====

====The Scriptures====

Have you walked in the depths of the Abyss? Have the gateways (SHA'ARei) of Deatrh been exposed to you, the gateways (SHA'ARei) of the Dark Opression? Job 38:17

Have you walked in the depths of the Abyss? Have the gateways (SHA'ARei) of Deatrh been exposed to you, the gateways (SHA'ARei) of the Dark Oppression? Job 38:17

I said in the waning of my days, To the gateway (SHA'ARei) of Sheol I have been commanded, That is what awaits the remainder of my days. I said, I will not see the LORD, the LORD!, in the Land of the living. I will not see men any more, people of the inhabited world. Isaiah 38:10

I said in the waning of my days, To the gateway (SHA'ARei) of Sheol I have been commanded, That is what awaits the remainder of my days. I said, I will not see the LORD, the LORD!, in the Land of the living. I will not see men any more, people of the inhabited world. Isaiah 38:10

Hell is likened to a Fortified City of the underworld, which not only defends itself but also retains its captives, the sons of men, within its fortifications. Hell must be breached in order to rescue them. The Fury of Hell's defenders is pure Tumult and Shriek. That is the nature of the Fortified City in Israel, which informs the Old Testament backdrop to the New Testament sayings. Many of the cities were double cities - a lower city and and upper city. Around this complex was the open field containing tents and dwellings for living and work. . At the appoach of an enemy, the men, women, children, and animals crowd into the lower city which is protected by the walls of the city. The lower city, already crowded with dwellings for the populous, and defending warriors, becomes even more so. If the lower city is breached, the upper city, containing administrative functions, garrisons, food and grains storage, shrines, water access, etc. become intolerably crowded, hoping for the attack and the siege to be over. Such were some of the cities of Israel as indicated by the AYIM at the end of their names. AYIM  means "double"- the double cities, upper and lower. Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Mahanayim, Kiryatayim etc.  Other cities were also  "double" but without indication in their names.

Hell is likened to a Fortified City of the underworld, which not only defends itself but also retains its captives, the sons of men, within its fortifications. Hell must be breached in order to rescue them. The Fury of Hell's defenders is pure Tumult and Shriek. That is the nature of the Fortified City in Israel, which informs the Old Testament backdrop to the New Testament sayings. Many of the cities were double cities - a lower city and upper city. Around this complex was the open field containing tents and dwellings for living and work. . At the approach of an enemy, the men, women, children, and animals crowd into the lower city which is protected by the walls of the city. The lower city, already crowded with dwellings for the populous, and defending warriors, becomes even more so. If the lower city is breached, the upper city, containing administrative functions, garrisons, food and grains storage, shrines, water access, etc. become intolerably crowded, hoping for the attack and the siege to be over. Such were some of the cities of Israel as indicated by the AYIM at the end of their names. AYIM  means "double"- the double cities, upper and lower. Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Mahanayim, Kiryatayim etc.  Other cities were also  "double" but without indication in their names.

===="Christ never sent anyone  anywhere without Him having gone there first"====

===="Christ never sent anyone  anywhere without Him having gone there first"====

The following Scriptures may best be understood in the context of Christ's succesful intrusion and breaching of the Gates of Hades and his rescuing the captives that were and the captives to come.

The following Scriptures may best be understood in the context of Christ's successful intrusion and breaching of the Gates of Hades and his rescuing the captives that were and the captives to come.

The dead had to be told the Good News as well, so that though, in their life on earth, they had been through the judgement that comes to all humanity,  they might come to God's life in the spirit. 1 Peter 4: 5,6

The dead had to be told the Good News as well, so that though, in their life on earth, they had been through the judgement that comes to all humanity,  they might come to God's life in the spirit. 1 Peter 4: 5,6

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him"[ 2 Corinthians 2:14

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him" 2 Corinthians 2:14

This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the Heavens, in order to fill the whole universe). (NRSV)  Ephesians 4: 8-10

This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the Heavens, in order to fill the whole universe). (NRSV)  Ephesians 4: 8-10

There is a church, Peter of Gallicantu - Peter of the Crowing of the Cock - that is just outside of the Old City walls of Jerusalem (2 miles by miles). One enters through Jaffa Gate (opening west towards Jaffa), also known as Bab elHalil = Gate of the Friend (opening south toward Hebron, the city of Abraham, the "friend of God") and passing right to the west of the City, one passes by the museum Citadel of David (where General Allenby received the surrender of Turkish forces in World War 1), the Kishle - the old Turkish police station (then British police station, then Israeli), through the narrow street of the Armenian quarter and tunnel with its cathedral and seminary, and just before reaching the Jewish quarter, passing out of the Zion Gate into the Mt. Zion of the Crusaders, down the hill, to the church. A walk 2,000 years ago would have taken you as you go westwards, through the ever increasingly populated residential section that King Herod built for the priestly families he imported from Italy to ensure loyalty to himself (Josephus).  

There is a church, Peter of Gallicantu - Peter of the Crowing of the Cock - that is just outside of the Old City walls of Jerusalem (2 miles by miles). One enters through Jaffa Gate (opening west towards Jaffa), also known as Bab elHalil = Gate of the Friend (opening south toward Hebron, the city of Abraham, the "friend of God") and passing right to the west of the City, one passes by the museum Citadel of David (where General Allenby received the surrender of Turkish forces in World War 1), the Kishle - the old Turkish police station (then British police station, then Israeli), through the narrow street of the Armenian quarter and tunnel with its cathedral and seminary, and just before reaching the Jewish quarter, passing out of the Zion Gate into the Mt. Zion of the Crusaders, down the hill, to the church. A walk 2,000 years ago would have taken you as you go westwards, through the ever increasingly populated residential section that King Herod built for the priestly families he imported from Italy to ensure loyalty to himself (Josephus).  

Entering the church, one is struck by the beauty of the dome and walls, and accustoming to the dim light both filtering through the stained glass and magnificently and kalaidascopically shining through, one sees the theme - the betrayal by Peter of Jesus in the courtyard to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest Is the night descending or is the day dawning? Without realizing it, you have entered into the actual courtyard of the house, or to be more exact, the Roman Catholic church built on the actual site. Stairs leading off to the side lead you down into the middle section of the house (just as so many houses built today in modern Jerusalem are multistoried homes wrapped around a hill and thus are terraced stories) and you see that it is not only the Roman Catholics of the French order with their archaeologists who think this was the actual site. For you are now in the remnant church from the Byzantine period (4th cent.- 7th cent.) with its hewn out side "benches", altar in front, and right in the center of the sanctuary a strange holed area (now protected so you do not fall in). It was not known that this was a Byzantine church until the plaster put on after Byzantine times, making whatever was below non porous to act as a water reserve, was scraped off. And there on the neck of whatever was below, as you peer down, appear crosses incised on the wall of the neck - typical of the era Byzantine crosses. But what was it down there before it was a Byzantine viewing hole, and then a water reservoir, and then topped by a Roman Catholic Church?  

Entering the church, one is struck by the beauty of the dome and walls, and accustoming to the dim light both filtering through the stained glass and magnificently and kalaidascopically shining through, one sees the theme - the betrayal by Peter of Jesus in the courtyard to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest Is the night descending or is the day dawning? Without realizing it, you have entered into the actual courtyard of the house, or to be more exact, the Roman Catholic church built on the actual site. Stairs leading off to the side lead you down into the middle section of the house (just as so many houses built today in modern Jerusalem are multistoried homes wrapped around a hill and thus are terraced stories) and you see that it is not only the Roman Catholics of the French order with their archaeologists who think this was the actual site. For you are now in the remnant church from the Byzantine period (4th cent.- 7th cent.) with its hewn out side "benches", altar in front, and right in the center of the sanctuary a strange holed area (now protected so you do not fall in). It was not known that this was a Byzantine church until the plaster put on after Byzantine times, making whatever was below non porous to act as a water reserve, was scraped off. And there on the neck of whatever was below, as you peer down, appear crosses incised on the wall of the neck - typical of the era Byzantine crosses. But what was it down there before it was a Byzantine viewing hole, and then a water reservoir, and then topped by a Roman Catholic church?  

Stairs leading off to the side lead you down to a lower level of the House, and entering it you wonder what this could ever be. It is a prison, just as the Talmud says was part of the house of the High Priest - a "holding" jail for prisoners who would be later brought before Pilate, the Roman Procurator, for trial. You see the carved out of the rock individual cells with their tell tale holes for lock enclosures and off to the side in slight elevated area is the guard post. But behind the quard post is a hole in the wall. Looking through the hole, one sees a deep carved out pit, at least the depth of two men, now lit up, but originally, dark, muddy, choking. This is the dungeon, and where the Lord would have been kept - until the next day and Pilate. Stairs leading off to the side lead you down to that dungeon bring you past the side walls and more incised Byzantine crosses and then the bottom, and on one wall, the one behind and to the right of the winding hewn out stairs, the tell tale carbonized sign on the wall of the swinging braizier used during the service. So this also was a church (or at least a chapel), in commemoration of Christ, his imprisonment and suffering, in the Byzantine period. Looking up, you can see the hole viewed previously from the Byzantine church above, and you can see the crosses.  

Stairs leading off to the side lead you down to a lower level of the House, and entering it you wonder what this could ever be. It is a prison, just as the Talmud says was part of the house of the High Priest - a "holding" jail for prisoners who would be later brought before Pilate, the Roman Procurator, for trial. You see the carved out of the rock individual cells with their tell tale holes for lock enclosures and off to the side in slight elevated area is the guard post. But behind the quard post is a hole in the wall. Looking through the hole, one sees a deep carved out pit, at least the depth of two men, now lit up, but originally, dark, muddy, choking. This is the dungeon, and where the Lord would have been kept - until the next day and Pilate. Stairs leading off to the side lead you down to that dungeon bring you past the side walls and more incised Byzantine crosses and then the bottom, and on one wall, the one behind and to the right of the winding hewn out stairs, the tell tale carbonized sign on the wall of the swinging braizier used during the service. So this also was a church (or at least a chapel), in commemoration of Christ, his imprisonment and suffering, in the Byzantine period. Looking up, you can see the hole viewed previously from the Byzantine church above, and you can see the crosses.  

behind the church on the lowest level, excavated servant quarters rooms with the remains of the mill stone turned by donkey ("better for you to have a millstone tied to the neck and cast in to the sea, than to hurt one of these little ones..." - indicating a rich residence,  

behind the church on the lowest level, excavated servant quarters rooms with the remains of the mill stone turned by donkey ("better for you to have a millstone tied to the neck and cast in to the sea, than to hurt one of these little ones..." - indicating a rich residence,  

the nearby pools of water for ritual purification before entering the temple area. These "Mikveh" are distinquished by steps the lead to nowhere. That is, they go down to the pool that is truncated leaving room enough just for a man to dip and then ascend. Some of the steps have center divider allowing, requiring, one way down and the side up, facilitating crowds of pilgrims in the shortest of time.  

the nearby pools of water for ritual purification before entering the temple area. These "Mikveh" are distinguished by steps the lead to nowhere. That is, they go down to the pool that is truncated leaving room enough just for a man to dip and then ascend. Some of the steps have center divider allowing, requiring, one way down and the side up, facilitating crowds of pilgrims in the shortest of time.  

And to the side of the house the original 1st century Roman stepped road, leading from the Mt of Olives (in plain view across the Kidron valley) where the Lord was arrested, and passing the house, on to the Temple area (also in plain view) where Jesus would be lead for His "trial" before Pilate  

And to the side of the house the original 1st century Roman stepped road, leading from the Mt of Olives (in plain view across the Kidron valley) where the Lord was arrested, and passing the house, on to the Temple area (also in plain view) where Jesus would be lead for His "trial" before Pilate